G.P.Pulnanrs  Sons.  New  York. 


OCTAVIUS  BROOKS  FROTHINGHAM 


AND 


THE   NEW   FAITH 


BY 

EDMUND    C.    STEDMAN 


NEW  YORK 
G.    P.    PUTNAM'S    SONS 

182  FIFTH  AVENUE 
1876. 


Copyright 

1876. 
BY  G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS. 


INTRODUCTORY     NOTE. 


T  N  response  to  numerous  requests,  and  to  the  generally 
**•  expressed  opinion  that  the  material  belonged  to  per- 
manent rather  than  ephemeral  literature,  the  able  essay  of 
Mr.  Stedman,  which  first  appeared  in  ' '  The  Galaxy, "  is 
here  reproduced  in  book-form. 

The  growing  interest  in  the  purport  and  influence  of 
what  are  known  as  Radical  ideas,  and  the  very  general 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  those  ideas  have  passed  through 
their  first  and  inevitable  stage  of  simple  negation  and  icono- 
clasm,  and  are  shaping  themselves  into  a  positive  and  con- 
structive faith,  and  a  practical  rule  of  life,  form  a  sufficient 
ground  for  the  work  that  the  essayist  has  attempted. 

His  terse  yet  comprehensive  summary  of  the  life  and 
teachings  of  the  man  who,  more  probably  than  any  other 
American,  is  the  representative  and  apostle  of  the  liberal 
faith,  will  be  of  interest  to  all  who  sympathize  with  this 

960435 


4  INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 

faith,  and  of  special  value  to  the  many  whose  objections  to 
or  dread  of  Radicalism  are  founded  upon  distorted  reports 
and  prejudiced  impressions. 

To  Mr.  Stedman's  effective  presentation  (which  has 
received  the  author's  revision)  has  been  added  an  extract 
from  a  recent  and  typical  sermon,  which  gives  the  teacher's 
own  statement  of  his  faith  and  life-long  purpose. 

G.  H.  P. 


OCTAVIUS  BROOKS 


TF  this  philosophical  teacher  and  divine  had 
chosen  to  live  in  some  rural  spot,  or  from 
an  academic  grove  had  sent  his  thoughts  out  to 
the  world — in  such  case  possibly  the  world's  at- 
tention would  have  been  more  speedily  fixed  upon 
him.  He  would  be  even  more  conspicuous  by 
position,  though  not  by  magnitude,  than  he  has  be- 
come through  his  peculiar  eminence  among  the 
notable  preachers  of  New  York.  Settled  in  a  pro- 
vincial town,  he  doubtless  would  make  the  place 
of  his  teachings,  as  Emerson  has  made  Concord,  a 
modern  oracle  and  shrine. 

I. 

Frothingham    has  been  called  the  successor  of 
Parker  and      Theodore  Parker,  whose  life  he  has  writ- 

Frothingham. 

ten  with  equal  simplicity,  reverence,  and 
judicial  poise.     Certainly  we  have  no  other  man 


6  OCTAVIUS.  BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM. 

.who,  <since  th£  fdeath  of  Parker,  has  so  persistently 
grounded  w  alt-, religious  faith  and  hope  upon  the 
'biisis  of-re^.soa,  nature,  discovered  law.  No  other 
preacher,  taking  up  the  ideas  to  which  Parker  final- 
ly advanced,  has  so  expanded  and  developed  them 
in  keeping  with  the  steadfast  growth  of  knowledge. 
The  mantle  which  fell  to  him  rests  upon  a  religious 
orator  who  displays  less  of  that  magnetic  power 
which,  in  its  lower  manifestation,  sustains  the  dem- 
agogue, and,  in  its  higher,  the  noble  leader  of  men  ; 
yet  upon  one  who  can  see  to  it,  by  every  gift  of 
culture,  purpose,  and  unflagging  zeal, .that  no  step 
is  taken  backward,  and  who  with  his  rational 
intellect  has  crystallized  in  a  religious  system 
what  was  at  first  an  inspiration — the  revelation  of 
a  lofty  and  impetuous  yet  somewhat  overburdened 
soul. 

Parker  stormed  traditionalism  in  its  stronghold. 
Boston,  the  nucleus  of  intellectual  pride,  was  so 

content  with  the  advance  of  Unitarian- 
Boston. 

ism  that  it  was  less  easy  to  draw  her  lib- 
erals any  further  than  to  disorganize  the  ranks  of 
the  extreme  devotees  of  authority.  While  Parker 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  7 

was  striving  to  enfranchise  religious  belief,  even  a 
Roman  Catholic  was  more  likely  to  swing  over  to 
rationalism  than  was  a  Unitarian  of  the  period. 
Frothingham,  the  disciple  and  successor,  saw  that 
to  make  the  work  complete  he  must  enter  upon  a 
wider  sphere  of  action.  His  field  must  be  the  world 
—the  world  as  represented  in  a  metropolis.  Mr. 
Conway  recently  said  of  London  that  it  afforded 
a  hearing  and  companionship  to  any  mind,  no  mat- 
ter how  eccentric,  since  there  is  no  person  who 
will  not  find  among  millions,  gathered  from  every 
race  and  country,  others  of  like  creed  and  disposi- 
tion with  his  own.  In  New  York,  since 

New  York. 

it  has  fairly  become  metropolitan,  the 
chance  to  be  found  is  the  same  as  in  London,  Paris, 
and  other  great  cities  of  the  world.  Here,  then, 
Frothingham  at  least  was  sure,  first,  of  a  foothold  ; 
secondly,  of  room  for  growth;  and  hither  he  came, 
to  transplant  his  scion  and  to  nourish  it  for  years. 
In  such  a  place  as  New  York  enduring  qualities  are 
not  those  which  at  once  enforce  attention.  Every 
year  some  new  claimant  appears  in  each  profession, 
and  often  disappears  as  quickly.  But  when  posi- 


8  OCTAVIUS  BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM. 

tion  is  once  legitimately  attained,  it  is  reputation 
and  power,  extending  to  the  borders  of  the  land. 
Mr.  Frothingham  at  length  finds  himself  not  only 
an  authority  with  his  immediate  followers,  but 
also,  whether  he  will  or  no,  what  is  termed  a  "  pop- 
ular preacher."  His  church  is  at  the  present  time 
one  of  the  widely  known  resorts  of  visitors  who 
would. acquaint  themselves  with  the  characteristic 
men  and  places  of  the  city.  In  making  a  brief 
sketch  of  its  leading  features  we  may  also  touch 
upon  its  religious  system,  and  upon  the  quality  and 
bearing  of  the  preacher  to  whom  it  owes  a  vigor- 
ous establishment. 

It  is  believed,  that  even  those  readers  who  are 
honestly  at  variance  with  Frothingham's  doctrines 
A  representative  must  nevertheless  take  an  interest  in 

preacher. 

the  power  and  attitude  of  the  man.  No 
preacher  is  more  fully  entitled  to  the  epithet  "  rep- 
resentative." In  temperament  and  person  he  is  of 
the  purest  New  England  type.  As  to  the  former, 
Edwards,  Hopkins,  Bellamy,  were  of  the  like  spiri- 
tual, self-contained,  and  dauntless  mold ;  as  to  the 
latter,  his  form  and  features  repeat  characteristics 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  9 

which  have  been  found  among  eastern  theologians 
and  scholars  from  the  early  colonial  times.  He 
has  the  clear-cut  face,  the  intellectual  forehead,  the 

large  unarched  New  England  nose,  and  the  pointed 

j 

chin — suggesting  equally  the  most  delicate  refine- 
ment and  the  sturdiest  polemical  valor.  Here  are 
the  blue-gray,  scholarly,  half-gentle,  half-satirical 
eyes,  a  mobile  mouth,  compressed  and  accurate 
lips.  The  whole  head  is  of  the  down-east,  Brah- 
ministic  type;  somewhat  aristocratic, — for  the 
clergy  of  the  New  England  colonies  were  an  aris- 
tocracy by  selection,  learning,  and  faith.  In  brief, 
here  is  one  whom  you  might  suppose  to  have 
had,  like  Emerson,  eight  generations  of  orthodox 
preachers  behind  him  ;  a  man  who,  in  the  light  of 
an  earlier  period,  might  have  been  a  Calvinist  of 
the  sternest  order,  and  have  died  for  his  belief,  or 
have  gone  out  into  the  forest  with  as  stout  a  heart 
as  he  brought,  in  these  times,  to  our  "  wilderness 
of  brick  and  stone."  But  we  are  not  living  in  the 
colonial  period,  and  Calvinism,  being  no  longer  a 
protest,  is  no  longer  an  instinctive  religion  with 
men  of  his  type  and  ancestry. 


10  OCTAVIUS  BROOKS  FROTHINGHAM. 

Let  us  first  convey  some  notion  of  the  service 
conducted  by  him,  and  then  speak  of  his  devotional 
Aspiring  and  philosophy — remarking  that  this,  while 

progressive 

spirit.  changeless  in  an  essential  spirit  of  aspira- 

tion and  receptivity,  is  avowedly  subject  to  modifi- 
cation by  whatever  knowledge  may  be  acquired. 
Though  its  purpose  remains  the  same,  its  outward 
form  moves  in  an  ascending  scale.  "More  light," 
is  the  teacher's  perpetual  cry,  and  his  belief  is  ever 
more  freshly  and  truthfully  set  forth  as  new  dis- 
coveries are  apparent  to  him. 

II. 

The  large  hall  in  the  Masonic  Temple,  at  the 
junction  of  Twenty-third  Street  and  Sixth  Avenue, 
Religious  ser-  'ls  a  place  leased  on  Sundays  to  Mr. 

vice  at  Ma- 
sonic Hall.  Frothingham's  congregation,  and  de- 
voted to  the  performance  of  a  religious  service.  A 
lofty  ceiling  rests  upon  two  rows  of  imposing  but 
somewhat  cumbrous  pillars,  that  lead  to  a  semicir- 
cular recess  and  the  speaker's  chair — above  which 
are  visible  the  ancient  symbols  of  the  "  craft."  Ex- 
ercises begin  at  10 : 45  A.  M.,  but  at  that  time  not 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  II 

more  than  one-half  of  the  audience  has  arrived.  It 
is  an  audience  of  no  ordinary  kind.  Sincerity  and 
interest  are  visible  upon  the  countenances  of  regu- 
lar attendants.  A  voluntary  is  performed  upon  the 
organ,  and  a  hymn,  possibly  selected-  from  the 
Unitarian  collection,  is  sung  by  a  choir  of  four 
voices.  You  will  not  fail  to  take  notice  that  the 
music  is  exquisite.  This,  and  the  floral  decora- 
tions of  the  lecturn,  show  that  here  the  aesthetic 
harmonies  are  well  observed,  though  rendered  sub- 
ordinate to  the  main  purpose  of  the  hour.  The 
preacher  rises,  and  receives  close  attention.  The 
book  which  he  usually  reads  is  one  com- 

The  reading. 

piled  from  the  sacred  scriptures  of  many 
ancient  nations,  and  entitled  "The  Sacred  Anthol- 
ogy; "  a  work  arranged  by  Moncure  D.  Conway,  in 
whose  London  chapel  a  liberal  service  also  is  held. 
Mr.  Frothingham  begins  to  read,  in  tones  that  at 
first  are  somewhat  labored  or  muffled,  but  speedily 
attract  and  hold  the  ear ;  his  voice,  despite  a  few 
peculiarities  of  articulation,  having  a  quality  and 
distinction  of  its  own.  His  chief  effort  is  to  convey 
the  full  meaning  of  the  printed  text.  "  Listen," 


12  OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM. 

he  says,  "  to  the  teachings  of  the  ancient  scrip- 
tures. This  is  from  the  Hindu;"  or,  "  This  is 
from  the  Chinese;"  afterward,  "  This  is  from  the 
Hebrew  "  (Old  Testament) ;  or,  "  This  is  from  the 
Persian  ;  "  or  again,  "  This  is  from  the  Christian  " 
(New  Testament);  thus  giving  no  precedence  in 
authority  to  any  selection,  but  valuing  each  for  its 
beauty,  wisdom,  piety,  and  internal  truth. 

After  the  reading,  of  this  unusual  character,  the 
doors  are  opened  to  admit  another  throng  of  peo- 
ple, who  seat  themselves  in  time  for  the  prayer. 
The  speaker's  voice  rises  in  an  invocation 

The  prayer. 

to  the  Supreme  Source  of  Law  and  Good- 
ness— an  address  which  is  an  aspiration,  a  poem 
of  reverence,  worship,  and  acknowledgment,  but 
never,  by  any  chance,  a  petition  to  a  listening 
Ruler  for  gifts,  protection,  or  other  personal  and 
special  benefits.  The  ties  of  human  brotherhood 
are  remembered  ;  the  noble  souls  that  have  sought 
for  truth  in  the  past,  and  suffered  for  it,  are  spoken 
of  as  the  saints  whose  memory  every  professor  of 
the  liberal  faith  must  love  and  cherish,  and  whose 
example  it  is  a  holy  ambition  to  imitate.  Thus 


OCTAVIUS  BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  13 

much  of  Positivism  is  often  reflected  in  Mr.  Fro- 
thingham's  speech  and  prayer.  But  in  assuming  for 
Religion  of  HU-  the  title  of  an  important  volume,*  which 

manity. 

illustrates  his  religious  system,  a  phrase 
adopted  by  the  followers  of  Comte,  he  seeks  to 
invest  the  beautiful  expression  with  a  more  expan- 
sive and  spiritual  comprehensiveness.  Still,  the 
idea  of  human  brotherhood,  as  a  religious  basis,  is 
frequently  advanced  by  him  in  words  such  as  these 
— which  formed  the  larger  portion  of  one  of  his 
recent  prayers: 

Let  us  be  striving,  this  morning,  to  get  some  nearer 
insight  into  that  great  Eternity,  to  which  so  many  things 
are  passing  evermore  from  our  mortal  sight.  We  would 
feel  how  little  we  know,  how  short-sighted  is  our  vision. 
We  would  know  how  much  there  is  of  purity  that  we  have 
never  felt,  how  much  of  justice  we  have  never  seen,  of 
sweetness  we  have  never  known,  of  hope  and  expectation 
that  we  have  never  cherished.  We  would  believe,  in  our 
life,  that  there  are  worlds  on  worlds  of  knowledge,  of  wis- 
dom, of  good,  of  sanctity,  of  loving  kindness,  and  good 
will,  \vhich  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  the 

*  "The  Religion  of  Humanity."  An  Essay.  (In  Twelve  Dis- 
courses.) By  Octavius  B.  Frothingham.  Third  Edition.  New 
York  :  George  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 


14  OCTAVIUS  BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM. 

heart  of  man  comprehended.  We  would  believe  that 
these  worlds  are  round  about  us  all  the  time.  We  would 
believe  that,  whatever  we  may  have  of  faith  or  hope,  of 
love  or  earnest  desire,  we  can  enter  into  and  bring  down 
into  our  hearts  the  peace  and  strength  of  these  blessings. 
We  would  remember  the  character  of  those  before  us,  the 
gifts  that  have  come  down  to  us,  the  light  of  glory  in  our 
darkness,  of  hope  in  our  fears,  of  courage  in  our  weakness, 
of  faith  in  our  doubt,  of  peace  and  joy  in  OUT  sadness  and 
sorrow.  In  a  world  so  full  as  this  of  doubting  and  ques- 
tioning ;  where  there  are  so  many  things  to  be  asked,  and 
answers  are  so  few ;  where  the  problems  are  so  deep  and 
perplexing,  and  the  solution  of  them  so  far  away ;  where 
there  is  so  much  to  be  borne  and  forborne,  so  much  to 
be  remembered,  and  so  much  to  be  forgotten  ;  where  there 
are  so  many  debts  to  be  forgiven,  so  many  evils  to  be 
eradicated,  so  many  wounds  to  be  healed,  and  so  many 
patients  to  be  cured  ;  where  there  is  this  perpetual  struggle  ; 
where  we  must  lift  ourselves  up  by  such  strength  as  we 
possess — we  would  remember  the  great  words  of  faith 
and  courage  that  echo  through  all  the  ages,  responded 
to  by  the  earnest  hearts  of  mankind,  the  strong-hearted 
men,  the  noble,  sainted  women,  who,  with  hearts  full  of 
affection,  and  souls  bright  with  glory,  and  minds  thirsting 
for  truth,  have  walked  their  short  journey  in  life,  and  done 
the  work  given  them  to  do  while  the  day  lasted,  and,  in 
parting,  have  left  behind  them  contributions  to  the  world 
of  human  activity  and  human  nature. 

And  we  woirid  be  profoundly  grateful  for  all  these  aids, 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  1 5 

and  supports,  and  benedictions,  and  by  our  endeavor  we 
would  make  them  not  less,  but  more ;  richer,  not  poorer  ; 
to  help  ourselves  and  to  help  our  fellow  men  to  renew  their 
lives,  and  so  render  praise  and  glory  forever  to  the  Author 
of  Supreme  Goodness  and  Life. 

This  prayer,  equally  with  George  Eliot's  noble 
lines  beginning,  "  Oh,  may  I  join  the  choir  invis- 
ible," breathes  the  spirit  of  reverence  for  the  saints 
and  martyrs  of  humanity ;  but  does  not  aspire  to 
the  utter  self-abnegation  implied  in  her  relinquish- 
ment  of  the  desire  for  a  personal  immortality  be- 
yond the  grave. 

After  another  hymn,  the  sermon  is  delayed  for  a 
few  moments,  during  the  admission  of  a  new  multi- 
tude of  late  comers,  who  arrive  for  the  purpose  of 
listening  to  this  unique  discourse.  An  air  of 
mutual  acquaintance  pervades  the  congregation, 
more  noticeable  than  in  other  churches ;  but  there 
are  many  strangers,  attracted  by  the  reputation  of 
the  preacher,  and  disposed  to  be  sharply  critical  of 
what  they  are  to  hear. 

Judged  simply  as  an  intellectual  per- 

The  Sermon. 

formance,  the  sermon  is  almost  without 


l6  OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM. 

a  modern  counterpart.  However  impressive  the 
genius,  fervor,  oratory,  of  the  most  noted  preachers 
belonging  to  our  established  sects,  there  is  no  one 
of  them  whose  spirit  is  more  eloquent  and  imagi- 
native, and  no  one  who  relies  so  utterly  upon  the 
force  of  reason  in  his  teachings,  or  who  ventures  to 
proffer  his  audience  a  discourse  so  thoroughly  de- 
manding attention  and  the  exercise  of  the  mental 
powers.  While  profoundly  reverential,  he  reverses 
the  method  of  evangelical  preachers,  and  essays  to 
reach  the  heart  through  the  brain — through  the 
perceptive,  reasoning,  and  aesthetic  faculties.  He 
prefers  to  take  the  hearer  in  his  sanest,  acutest 
mood — his  most  logical  mood  ;  in  the  full  posses- 
sion of  the  judgment  with  which  a  human  being  is 
endowed. 

As  he  stands  with  his  sinewy  but  light  and  grace- 
ful figure,  apart  from  the  desk,  you  see  that,  although 
Method  and    his  discourse  may  have  been  carefully 

characteristics. 

prepared,  it  is  to  be  spoken,  not  read ;  you 
realize  that  it  cannot  have  been  literally  memorized, 
and  you  study  the  play  of  his  features  as  he  begins, 
without  flaw  or  impediment,  to  speak  and  "  think 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  I/ 

while  on  his  feet."  It  is  a  remarkable  piece  of  in- 
tellectual oratory,  exciting  the  surprise  of  cultured 
listeners.  Commencing  without  a  text,  but  with 
the  announcement  of  a  theme,  he  continues  for  an 
hour  or  more  to  pour  out  a  stream  of  thoughts  in 
language  nearly  as  compact  as  Emerson's  prose, 
yet  so  clear  that  even  his  youngest  auditors  are 
persuaded  by  its  charm.  We  should  compare  his 
thought  to  Emerson's  for  closeness  and  wisdom, 
but  it  is  arranged  upon  a  logical  system  which  is 
absent  from  the  epigrammatic  essays  of  the  Con- 
cord sage.  Frothingham's  method  is  synthetic  ;  he 
pays  regard  to  the  framework  and  order  of  his  dis- 
course. At  times  his  expressions  are  highly  poeti- 
cal, and  he  warms  into  eloquence  of  looks,  speech, 
and  gesture.  What  the  teachers  call  elocution  is 
against  him  ;  his  voice,  in  spite  of  himself,  plays 
him  tricks,  and  occasionally  a  word  is  inaudible  at 
the  close  of  a  sentence.  But  he  is  all  imbued  with 
his  theme,  forces  hearers  to  keep  pace  with  him, 
and  holds  them  to  the  end.  Every  face  is  directed 
toward  him  ;  young  and  old  hang  upon  his  lips,  as 
if  anxious  that  no  word  "  should  be  lost."  In  the 


1 8  OCTAVIUS   BROOKS  FROTHINGHAM. 

total  absence  of  ordinary  platform  tricks  this  is,  I 
Triumph  of   sav>  a  triumph  of  pure  reason.     At  the 

Pure    Reason. 

close,  even  if  you  feel  that  you  have  been 
subjected  to  a  certain  mental  tension,  you  acknowl- 
edge that  nothing  can  be  more  fascinating  than  the 
study  of  so  fine  and  free  an  intellect  thus  brought 
into  play.  There  is  no  mental  impoverishment ; 
the  audience  departs  well  fed,  and  the  food  carries 
its  own  aid  to  digestion. 

in. 

What  is  the  religion  taught  by  this  preacher,  and 
how  is  this  congregation,  with  its  original  forms  of 
worship,  gathered  and  sustained  by  his  ministra- 
tions ?  Recalling  the  series  of  discourses  preached 
at  the  Masonic  Temple  last  winter,  and  condens- 
ing their  essential  matter,  we  may  obtain  a  par- 
tial answer  to  these  questions ;  availing  ourselves, 
when  practicable,  of  Mr.  Frothingham's  own 
words. 

His  rational  or  "  reasonable  "  religion 

The  Rational 

is  to  be  distinguished,  first,  from  a  relig- 
ion founded,  like  Romanism,  on  authority ;  second- 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  19 

ly,  from  a  religion  founded  on  simple  faith.  It 
claims  to  have  reached  a  higher  level  than  that  of 
the  Old  or  New  Testament.  It  subjects  the  chro- 
nology, history,  miracles  of  the  Bible  to  investiga- 
tion, and  judges  it  to  be  a  compilation,  and  not  a 
single  work  divinely  organized  and  inspired.  It 
has  no  sealed  book.  Its  canon  of  Scripture  is  not 
completed,  nor  will  be.  It  reads  all  Bibles,  Indian, 
Persian,  or  Christian.  It  opposes  alike  that  "  evan- 
gelicalism "  which  requires  us  to  accept  as  revela- 
tion a  special  theory  of  the  universe,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  bald  intellectualism  which  is 
equally  intolerant  in  an  opposite  way.  In  distinc- 
tion from  Calvinism,  it  believes  that  man's  nature  is 
radically  good  and  only  evil  incidentally;  were  this 
otherwise,  the  human  race  would  make  no  progress 
in  morals  and  enlightenment.  It  recognizes  the 
heart  and  soul  of  man,  with  his  instincts  and  hopes. 
Finally,  it  discerns  a  perpetual  revelation  in  the 
phases  of  nature,  as  elucidated  by  science.  It  has 
no  fear  of  the  term  infidelity,  as  opposed  to  ortho- 
doxy, but  regards  the  infidels  of  all  periods  as 
earnest  and  conscientious  men  ;  often  martyrs  and 


20  OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM. 

pioneers  of  new  thought.  Infidelity  is  a  great 
word  and  describes  a  great  thing.  It  has  been 
applied  to  holders  of  widely  different  opinions ;  tc 
the  primitive  Christians,  to  the  Jews  of  the  middle 
ages,  to  the  Protestants  of  the  twelfth  and  thir- 
teenth centuries,  to  historians,  to  the  New  England 
transcendentalists,  to  the  school  of  Parker.  It  is 
used  to  describe  the  opinions  of  the  minority,  the 
suspected  and  hated  few.  Modern  infidelity  is  of 
two  kinds :  the  old,  destructive  school  of  Paine  and 
the  French  revolutionists;  the  new,  constructive  re- 
ligion which  liberalists  are  professing.  This  religion 
is  more  than  any  particular  system  of  faith,  and 
much  greater  than  the  forms  and  traditions  of  the 
past ;  in  fact,  it  is  always  seeking  grander  and  more 
beautiful  forms,  a  surer  vision,  a  more  radiant  hope. 
Mr.  Frothingham  does  not  hold  himelf  quite  in 
sympathy  with  the  woman  of  the  Eastern  fable,  who 
Consequences  b°re  a  torch  in  one  hand  and  a  bucket 

to    be    recog-  •    i          i 

nized.  of  water   in  the  other,  that   with   the 

one  she  might  burn  up  heaven  and  with  the  other 
extinguish  hell.  On  the  contrary,  while  preaching 
that  right  should  be  done  because  it  is  right,  he 


OCTAVIUS  BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  21 

also  justifies  a  system  based  on  hopes  and  fears  ; 
on  a  wise  recognition  of  consequences.  These  he 
deems  the  enactments  of  the  universe,  and  thinks 
that  according  to  their  natures  they  produce  the 
conditions  which  people  have  dramatized  under 
the  epithets  of  heaven  and  hell.  To  be  sure  these 
words,  in  their  theological  sense,  are  spoiled  phrase- 
ology, and  no  longer  believed  in.  But  they  have 
had  their  restraining  uses,  have  acted  as  a  police 
force  in  the  regulation  of  human  affairs,  and  their 
place  must  still  be  supplied  by  a  wholesome  re- 
gard for  the  good  or  evil  consequences  which  in- 
evitably wait  upon  the  observance  or  violation  of 
universal  law. 

In  answer  to  the  question  propounded  by  the 
advocates  of  tradition  and  authority,  Why  go  to 
iig-  church?  he  takes  occasion  to  explain  and 
justify  his  own  forms  of  worship.  He 
proffers  his  religion  and  exercises  to  those  who  find 
the  standard  orthodox  ceremonies  flat,  stale,  and 
unprofitable.  The  aim  of  his  service  is  to  stimu- 
late the  mind  and  move  the  feelings  in  the  direc- 
tion of  ideal  thought,  goodness,  and  beauty;  it 


ous  servce. 


22  OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM. 

belongs  to  those  agencies  by  which  men  are  ele- 
vated and  made  pure.   To  these  ends  it  legitimately 
employs:    (i)    Music.      (2)  Reading  of  Scriptures 
its  aim  and    which  contain  the  antique  wisdom  of  the 

methods. 

race  ;  all  "  sacred  "  writings  that  utter 
the  solemn  convictions  of  their  ages  and  peoples. 
(3)  Prayer.  There  is  no  religion  without  this. 
But  to  prayer  he  restores  the  original  meaning,  the 
heart's  desire  for  unattained  good.  It  is  hunger 
and  thirst  for  divine  things,  not  a  means  for  pro- 
pitiating higher  powers  or  establishing  private  re- 
lations with  a  patron  deity.  The  desire  is  its  own 
satisfaction ;  the  petition  its  own  answer.  Omit 
this  aspiration,  and  the  spiritual  or  finest  intellec- 
tual feature  of  his  service  would  depart.  (4)  The 
sermon.  This  is  addressed  not  to  the  emotions, 
but  to  the  understanding.  He  does  not,  like  the 
Romish  priest  or  Protestant  divine,  arrogate  a 
special  inspiration  by  virtue  of  ordination  or  con- 
secration. He  has  no  gospel  of  redemption,  no 
The  Preacher's  sea-led  commission  ;  he  claims  for  his 

themes. 

words  no  authority,  and  affects  to  pos- 
sess no  knowledge  above  other  men.  It  is  his 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS  FROTHINGHAM.  23 

province  to  discuss  subjects  which  people  require  to 
have  presented  statedly,  for  the  reason  that  secular 
life  tends  to  keep  them  out  of  mind.  These  are  not 
the  Trinity,  deity  of  Christ,  atonement,  and  other 
traditional  themes ;  rather  the  relations  of  man  to 
man,  the  hopes  and  capacities  of  the  race,  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  ancient  words,  God,  immortality, 
life,  death,  of  worship,  piety,  brotherly  love.  All 
these  he  would  interpret  and  illuminate  as  matters 
of  vital  concernment,  and  apply  their  lessons  to 
the  needs  of  the  hour.  In  this  way  the  higher 
ministry  is  attained,  and  made  progressive  and  per- 
petual. 

Mr.  Frothingham's  views  concerning  the  nature 
and  existence  of  a  Divine  Being  are  frankly  set  forth 
The  supreme     in    three    discourses,*    remarkable    for 
strength  and  beauty  of  expression,  en- 
titled "  The  Living  God,"  "  Thoughts  About  God," 
and  "  The  Theist's  Faith."     His  position  relative 
to  this  subject  and  to  the  question  of  immortality, 


*  "  Beliefs  of  the  Unbelievers,  and  Other  Discourses."     By  O.  B. 
Frothingham.     New  York  :  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 


24  OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM. 

the  two  vital  matters  with  every  inquiring  soul, 
has  been  so  often  scrutinized  that  he  seems  at 
pains  to  define  it  for  the  satisfaction  of  his  hearers, 
and  for  his  own  vindication  before  the  outer  world. 
He  may  be  termed  a  theist,  in  the  broad  and 
aspiring  sense  of  that  word.  Our  thoughts  of  God, 
he  says,  are  all  that  we  have ;  but  the  picture 
framed  by  human  mind  is  inadequate,  whether 
that  of  the  Trinitarian,  the  Unitarian,  the  Theist, 
or  the  Pantheist.  Anthropomorphism  is  totally 
absent  from  his  conception,  and  he  discovers  this 
quality  in  all  religions  of  all  races— from  the  savage 
to  the  modern  Christian  —  in  the  faiths  of  the 
Limitations  Indian,  the  Hebrew,  the  Greek,  the  Goth, 

of  Human 

the  bigot,  and  the  philosopher.  To  limit 
the  Divine  Being  by  our  thoughts  of  him  is  fatal 
to  humility,  establishes  dogma,  perpetuates  fable 
and  tradition,  makes  Deity  responsible  for  what  is 
due  simply  to  the  limitations  of  our  own  minds. 
Human  thoughts  about  God  harden  into  tyran- 
nous theologies.  We  arraign  Providence  by  our 
own  standards,  not  seeing  that  inflexible  and  eter- 
nal Law  is  the  universal  and  benignant  Providence  ; 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  25 

we  measure  God  by  our  own  narrow  comprehen- 
sion, as  if  we  could  embrace  the  vast  design. 
Therefore  Frothingham  foregoes  all  attempts  to 
conceive  of  a  personal  God.  But  let  us  quote  his 
own  words  : 

In  this  it  is  not  implied  that  God  does  not  exist  as  a 
being,  but  only  that  we  do  not  apprehend  him  as  a  be- 
ing. It  is  impossible  for  me  not  to  believe  that  the  universe 
is  governed  by  an  intelligent  will  ;  but  it  is  equally 'impos- 
sible for  me  to  imagine  the  nature  of  the  intelligence,  or  to 
conjecture  the  movements  of  the  will.  Believe  in  the 
Supreme  Power,  trust  it,  repose  on  it  as  we  may,  it  still  is 
a  reality  beyond  our  comprehension  or  our  reach.  This 
is  a  point  that  cannot  be  seized  too  firmly.  The  stronger 
my  faith  in  God  the  more  modest  my  estimate  of  such  an 
idea  of  him  as  it  is  practicable  for  me  to  form.  The  no- 
tion that  he  might  be  such  a  being  as  mind  can  conceive, 
no  greater,  no  wiser,  no  nobler,  would  drive  me  into  athe- 
ism. It  is  only  by  remembering  faithfully  the  utter  inad- 
equacy of  my  thought  that  1  can  make  him  an  object  of 
adoration. 

With  the  sorrowful  atheism  of  Mill,  for  example, 

Frothingham   is  wholly  at  issue.     He   finds  peace 

The  Reign  of    and    satisfaction   in   the   reign    of    law. 

Law. 

He  recognizes  what   we  call  evil  as  a 
portion  of   a  universal  plan   beyond   our   present 

2 


26  OCTAVIUS  BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM. 

comprehension  or  arraignment,  and  believes  in 
God  as  "  a  power  outside  of  us  that  works  for 
righteousness."  *  If  this  be  so,  the  heart  of  the 
theist  is  content.  Faith  in  such  a  power,  based  on 
what  we  can  discover  of  the  nature  of  things  and 
of  the  doctrine  of  development,  is  such  a  faith  as 
one  may  reasonably  cling  to. 

He  consequently  does  not  seek  to  recall  a  van- 
ished God,  deeming  a  God  who  appeared  and  then 
conception  of  disappeared  to  be  more  hopelessly  ab- 

a  Living  God. 

sent  than   a  God  who    never   appeared. 
Nor  need  we  imagine  a  time  when  God  will  mani- 


*  From  another  prayer,  taken  from  the  report  of  the  service  at 
Masonic  Temple,  June  4,  1876,  we  quote  the  following  passage,  in 
further  illustration  of  Mr.  Frothingham's  conception  of  the  Supreme 
Being  : 

"  Spirit  of  Truth,  Inspirer,  Helper,  Consoler,  we  invoke  Thy 
presence  ;  we  implore  Thy  peace.  Thou  hast  no  name  by  which 
we  can  call  Thee  ;  Thou  hast  no  form  under  which  we  can  appre- 
hend Thee  ;  Thou  dwellest  in  no  place  ;  Thou  hast  no  temple  ; 
Thou  speakest  to  us  in  no  voice  ;  we  have  no  thought  that  can  com- 
prehend Thee,  no  feeling  that  can  do  justice  to  Thee  ;  and  yet  we 
may  have  Thee  in  our  hearts  ;  through  the  dark  paths  of  our  life 
we  may  be  guided  by  Thee  as  our  light.  .  .  .  We  would  feel 
the  privilege  of  being  emancipated  ever  so  little  from  the  bondage 
of  prejudice  and  tradition,  of  being  able  to  lift  up  our  minds  ever  so 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  27 

fest  himself,  nor    solve  the    difficulty  with  those 
revivalists  who  import  a  deity  for  the  hour. 

The  real  question  is,  whether  or  no  this  supreme 
power — define  it  and  speculate  about  it  as  we  will — think 
of  it  and  reason  about  it  as  we  may — is  or  is  not  LIVING — 
a  real  power  of  intelligence  and  will,  or  nothing  at  all  but 
a  fiction  of  our  minds.  .  .  .  The  universe  is  conceded, 
by  earnest,  believing,  religious  men,  not  materialists  or 
skeptics,  to  be  not  so  much  a  complicated  machine,  which 
once  made  need  not  even  be  superintended,  as  a  living 
abode  and  ever-present  manifestation  of  whatever  being, 
spirit,  power  it  is  that  men  call  by  the  name  of  deity.  .  .  . 
So  far  then,  the  conception  of  a  living  God  is  made 
definite.  No  hint,  it  may  be,  is  thrown  out  in  regard  to 
the  nature  of  infinite  being ;  we  are  as  far,  perhaps,  as  ever 
from  a  knowledge  of  what  God  may  be  in 'himself;  nay, 
the  mystery  of  that  may  possibly  be  deepened  ;  still  that 

little  above  the  clouds  and  tumults  of  the  present  to  the  serene  and 
everlasting  light  that  is  changeless  and  shadowless,  forever  and 
ever.  We  mourn  not  that  what  has  been  called  inspiration  has 
ceased  ;  that  great  words  once  devoutly  listened  for  are  hushed  ;  that 
much  that  has  been  mistermed  knowledge  has  passed  away  ;  that 
revelations  which  men  have  waited  for,  and  longed  for,  and  greeted 
with  uplifted  souls,  have  lost  their  meaning  for  us.  We  rejoice  that 
our  hearts  are  stirred  as  with  a  divine  hope,  that  our  minds  are 
quickened  with  a  deep  and  earnest  love  of  knowledge,  that  our  souls 
are  alight  with  glorious  anticipations  of  human  good,  that  our  con- 
science has  felt  the  power  of  unutterable  law,  and  our.  hearts  the 
sweetness  of  an  unspeakable  peace." 


28  OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM. 

whatever  power  there  is  is  alive,  in  every  atom  of  space,  in 
every  instant  of  time,  is  put  beyond  controversy,  and  man- 
ifest, let  us  add,  in  a  much  higher  form  in  mind  than  in 
visible  matter. 

It  is  then  the  object  of  the  teacher's  discourses, 
so  far  as  theology  is  concerned,  to  seek  for  the 
present  manifestation  of  this  Supreme  Being,  dis- 
carding all  other  revelations,  and  to  constantly 
obtain  loftier  views  of  His  goodness  and  power. 

Upon  the  question  of  immortality — i.  e.,  of  the 
future  existence  of  the  soul  in  its  separate  indi- 
The  question  of  viduality,  preserving  its  affections,  con- 

Immortality.  ;  . 

science,  acquirements,  memories,  hopes, 
tastes,  and  perceptions — upon  this  question  Fro- 
thingham's  position  seems  not  unlike  Emerson's,  to 
wit  :  that  this  "  secret  is  very  cunningly  hid."  He 
has  referred  to  the  belief  of  the  early  Christians  in 
the  resurrection  of  all  who  belong  to  Christ,  and  to 
the  new  doctrine  of  Dodwell  and  Clarke,  the  Ox- 
ford lecturers,  who  made  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  a  consequent  upon  its  immateriality ;  but  he 
finds  no  proof  of  all  this,  not  even  in  the  modern 
phenomena  of  "  spiritualism."  Yet  in  these  and 


OCTAVIUS    BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  29 

other  religious  faiths  he  discerns  a  "  great  hope,"  a 
hope  wide,    encouraging,  and  sweet    to 

A  Great  Hope. 

men.  To  be  permitted  thus  to  hope  is 
enough.  The  mystery  of  the  future  is  its  charm. 
The  hope  of  immortality  is  deeper  and  more  uni- 
versal than  the  belief  in  it.  It  seems  never  to  die  ; 
it  revives  and  increases  as  the  faith  in  conscious 
continuance  in  another  state  of  being  declines. 
Among  just  grounds  for  this  hope  he  includes  the 
imperative  demand  for  justice,  in  view  of  the 
apparent  disarrangement  and  incompleteness  of 
human  affairs ;  the  incompleteness  and  arrested 
development  of  life  and  of  the  soul  itself;  the 
starvation  and  frustration  of  our  holiest  natural 
affections  and  aspirations.  Reason  lends  its  ear  to 
such  cries,  and  those  who  disbelieve  in  creeds  and 
revelation  may  well  cling  to  this  magnificent 
hope.* 

As  to  faith  itself,  when  assuming  the  guise  of 
authority,  claiming  to  hold  the  key  to  happiness 

*  The  question  of  immortality  is  specially  discussed,  also,  in  his 
sermon  entitled  "  The  Glorified  Man,"  delivered  April  16,  1876. 
(G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.) 


3O  OCTAVIUS  BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM. 

after   death,  and  to  possess  a   monopoly  of    the 
privilege  of  admitting  souls  to  it,  he  es- 

Faith. 

teems  this  a  sheer  perversion  of  power. 
The  pretension  is  that  of  supposition,  not  of  faith. 
itmustrestup-  Religion  has  ho  sympathy  with  it;  true 

on   Knowledge 

and  Aspiration;  religion  strives  to  disengage  itself  from 
this  despotism,  of  which  extreme  types  are  found 
in  the  iron  sway  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
and  in  the  unyielding  dogmas  of  the  Calvinists. 


Not  upon  Tra-  But   f^th   based   upon   knowledge  and 

dition   and 

Authority,     upon  loftiness  of  motive  is  a  part  of  true 

religion.     The  trouble  is  that  it  often  claims  to  rest 

on  knowledge  when   it  rests  on  fancy  ;  to  rest  on 

fact    and   its  fact   is  fiction  ;  to  rest  upon  history, 

and  its  history  is  mythology.     The  place 

Science. 

and  work  of  true   faith  are  admitted  by 
science  itself: 

For  the  scientific  man  lives  by  faith,  in  this  sense  :  Faith 
in  the  integrity  of  Nature,  the  omnipresence  and  inviola- 
bility of  law,  the  equivalence  of  forces  ;  faith  that  '  '  the 
universe  .was  made  at  one  cast/'  that  mechanics  and 
mathematics  are  the  same  in  all  worlds,  that  sand  grains 
and  planets  obey  the  same  kind  of  impulse  ;  faith  of  a 
truly  audacious  and  somewhat  speculative  sort. 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS  FROTHINGHAM.  3-1 

Finally,  a  lofty  and  rational  faith  is  the  ground 
of  moral  enthusiasm  and  of  every  historic  reform. 
The  strong  workers,  the  wise  prophets,  the  bold 
achievers,  have  been  men  who  believed  in  inviola- 
ble laws  and  principles,  have  been  eminently  men 
of  faith. 

IV. 

Let  us  now  consider  this  preacher's,  relations 
with  the  flock  under  his  charge,  and  the  nature  of 
TheNewReii  ^s  Practical  admonitions.  Teaching  a 

ion  applied. 

rational  not  an  authoritative  religion,  and 
always  seeking  new  light  for  faith  and  hope,  he 
naturally  pays  careful,  learned,  and  eloquent  atten- 
tion to  scientific  discovery  and  social  progress,  and 

finds  the  clearest  revelation  of  Deity  in 

"  More  Light." 

Nature's  elements  and  processes,  and 
the  best  evidence  of  "  pure  religion  and  undefiled" 
in  the  sympathy  of  man  with  man.  His  illustra- 
tions and  arguments  are  largely  drawn  from  scien- 
truths,  of  which  no  one  is  a  more 


sen 

timerit. 

ardent  and  well-informed  observer.     His 
moral  injunctions  are  pointed  and  incessant.     He 


32  OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM. 

is  a  stern  rebuker  of  the  false  and  honeyed  senti- 
ment which  tempts  so  many  to  venture  upon  dan- 
gerous ground.  There  is  no  sentimental  looseness 
or  license  in  his  doctrine.  Morals  are  of  the  first 
importance.  Works,  despised  by  the  Calvinist,  re- 
ceive honor  at  his  hands.  Spirituality 

Good  Works. 

begins,  continues,  and  culminates  in  use. 
To  be  nobly,  humanely  useful  is  to  be  spiritual  in 
a  grand  way.  Love  your  neighbor  more  than  your- 
self; pay  your  debts;  lead  pure  and  rational  lives; 
conform  to  the  laws  of  nature  ;  be  honest  even  in 
your  secret  heart.  After  all  these  he  fearlessly  and 
honestly  endeavors.  He  strives  in  every  way  to 

nourish    a    close    and    delightful   social 
Socmi  Brother- 
brotherhood  among  his  people.     As  to 

the  worship  of  children,  he  enjoins  upon  parents 
the  duty  of  keeping  the  youthful  heart  untram- 
meled  either  by  selfishness  or  superstitious  fear. 

He   finds  in   the  very  clogs  of  life  its   greatest 

opportunities!      Even   the  clog   of   theology,  the 

stumbling-block  of  bigotry,  the  barricade 

Evolution. 

of  dogmatism,  have  a  use  and  value. 
False  religions  have  educated  the  human  mind  in 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  33 

faith  and  courage,  where  sweet  beliefs  would  have 
uses  of  Past    failed.     The  theology  of  New  England, 
against    which    liberalism    is   a    protest, 
explains  New  England's  moral  growth: 

Hard,  acrid,  angular,  how  many  tender  bosoms  have 
been  bruised  against  it ;  how  many  delicate  consciences 
and  sensitive  souls  have  been  wounded  and  struck  to  death 
by  its  sharp  points  !  And  yet  what  a  discipline  in  thought 
it  was  !  For,  when  men  were  hedged  round  as  with  a  line 
of  fire  by  these  tremendous  dogmas  of  predestination,  de- 
pravity, atonement,  hell,  it  was  imperative  that  they  should 
resist  and  react.  Reaction  in  favor  of  rational  liberty  of 
mind  could  not  be  prevented.  ...  It  was  the  con- 
scientious effort  of  those  pious,  painful  men  to  find  out  the 
truth  within  the  limits  appointed  to  them ;  to  grapple  with 
the  terrible*  questions  which  their  age  propounded,  and  to 
answer  them  as  they  could.  People  who  are  brought  up 
outside  of  the  old  theology,  who  were  born  into  liberalism 
without  personal  knowledge  of  the  older  faith,  having  no 
problems  thrown  down  before  them,  and,  consequently, 
being  discharged  from  the  duty  of  turning  them  over,  are 
tempted  never  to  ask,  and  failing  to  ask,  become  loose, 
flaccid,  and  indolent  in  their  minds.  We  have  to  conjure 
up  forthem  new  questions,  to  bring  forward  new  problems 
that  will  take  the  place  of  the  grim  old  provocatives  their 
fathers  knew. 

The  following  extract  from  a  recent  discourse,  en- 


34  OCTAVIUS   BROOKS  FROTHINGHAM. 

titled  "  The  Spirit  of  the  New  Faith,"  is  of  special 
interest,  as  giving  a.clear  statement  of  the  teacher's 
faith  and  purpose. 

What  is  the  new  faith  ?  What  is  its  peculiarity  ? 
What  is  its  intellectual  ground  ?  The  new  faith  rests 
frankly  and  composedly  upon  the  doctrine  of  evolution  ; 
not  maintaining  the  doctrine  in  any  dogmatic  sense ; 
not  pretending  to  define  it  with  scientific  accuracy ;  but 
accepting  it  in  its  broad  meaning  and  lofty  significance  ; 
planting  itself  upon  it  as  the  most  probable  account  of  the 
world's  existence.  Instead  of  believing  that  the  creative 
power  and  wisdom  interposes  to  carry  out  special  plans, 
and  to  impart  special  ideas  to  the  race,  it  is  persuaded  that 
from  the  very  beginning — from  the  veriest  beginning — 
things  have  been  working  themselves  gradually  out  into 
intelligent  forms,  into  beautiful  shapes,  into  varied  use, 
loveliness,  and  power.  It  contends  that  the  world  of  hu- 
manity began  at  the  beginni-ng  and  not  at  the  end.  It 
therefore  discards  miracles,  rejects  everything  like  super- 
natural interposition,  considers  as  obsolete  the  popular 
theory  of  revelation.  It  has  no  inspired  books  distin- 
guished in  character  and  contents  from  the  world's  best  lit- 
eratures. It  sets  up  no  teachers  and  prophets  as  proclaim- 
ing an  infallible  word.  It  expects  no  infallible  word  from 
any  quarter.  It  reads  no  book  with  absolute  or  entire 
reverence  such  as  no  other  literature  can  receive.  It  sees 
the  work  of  the  supreme  will  and  wisdom  in  the  ordinary 
texture  of  the  world,  hailing  its  vital  presence  as  an  influ- 


OCTAVIUS  BROOKS  FROTHINGHAM.     35 

ence  working  toward  light,  order,  righteousness,  goodness, 
perfection  in  individual  man  and  in  the  social  groupings 
of  mankind  which  are  called  societies.  Planting  itself 
upon  this  idea,  the  spirit  that  animates  it  must  be  peculiar- 
ly its  own.  It  cannot  be  narrow,  dogmatical,  or  exclusive  ; 
nor  can  it  be  negative,  scornful,  or  contemptuous.  It 
stands  beyond  the  very  last  attainment  in  charity. 

Charity  is  the  last  step  that  has  been  taken  in 
religion  by  any  considerable  number  of  people.  It  is  con- 
sidered by  most  as  the  final  step,  the  ultimate  goal  of  kind- 
ness. The  spirit  of  chanty  is  commended  by  Christians 
as  being  the  most  excellent — the  supreme  spirit.  But  cha- 
rity is  not  brotherhood  ;  it  is  not  fellowship  or  apprecia- 
tion. Charity  can  be  unjust  in  its  pity.  Pity  indeed  is  its 
essence.  It  does  not  scorn,  but  it  does  compassionate, 
and  compassion  is  but  a  gentler  form  of  contempt.  In 
being  charitable,  one  must  believe  that  he  or  she  has 
the  sole,  complete  truth  ;  he  scarcely  more  than  tolerates  ; 
only,  instead  of  the  haughty  pride  of  toleration,  he  mani- 
fests kindness,  gentleness,  and  a  sentimental  forbearance 
that  forbids  the  demonstration  of  ili  will.  Charitable  peo- 
ple may  be  indifferent  in  a  way  that  to  the  sensitive  is  ex- 
tremely disagreeable,  and  may  be  felt  as  extremely  insulting. 
Charity  too  is  limited.  The  churchman's  charity  is  limited 
to  church  people.  The  dogmatist's  charity  does  not  pass 
cordially  beyond  the  membership  of  his  own  communion. 

The  new  faith  therefore  rises  beyond  charity  to  appre- 
ciation. It  has  no  contempt ;  it  has  no  toleration  ;  it  has 
no  active  or  passive  indifference  ;  it  has  more  than  nega- 


36  OCTAVIUS  BROOKS  FROTHINGHAM. 

tive  good  will  ;  it  has  the  warm  sentiment  of  brotherhood 
It  can  turn  to  the  most  abject  forms  of  faith,  the  forms 
commonly  regarded  as  superstition,  and  recognize  their 
importance,  their  timeliness,  even  their  benignity  in  the 
periods  when  they  prevailed.  It  can  do  justice  to  their  in- 
tent, their  purpose,  their  being,  when  faith  alone  discloses 
it.  It  can  interpret  their  significance  to  their  own  be- 
lievers unaware  of  their  spiritual  sense.  It  has  no  lan- 
guage of  disparagement  for  men  like  Mahomet,  Confu- 
cius, Zoroaster,  Pythagoras,  Socrates,  or  any  other  renowned 
teacher,  reformer,  or  saint.  It  has  no  words  of  scorn  for 
men  like  Voltaire,  Thomas  Paine,  d'Holbach,  Helvetius, 
Bolingbroke,  the  so-called,  the  self-styled  infidels  or  athe- 
ists of  their  day.  It  takes  these  men  at  their  best — takes 
their  systems  by  their  positive  elements,  enters  into  their 
sj^ate  of  mind,  their  purposes  and  wishes,  interprets  them 
from  the  inside  motives  that  actuated  them,  and  holds 
them  to  account  for  what  they  meant  to  do  and  be,  pre- 
senting them  as  objects  of  regard  to  the  fellow  creatures 
whom  they  thought  to  serve.  The  new  faith  takes  the  old 
faiths  by  one  hand  and  the  modern  faiths  by  the  other, 
embraces  all  earnest  people,  and  cordially  says  :  Let  us  be 
friends  ;  we  are  all  working  together,  thinking,  hoping, 
feeling  our  way  into  the  realms  of  truth,  conspiring  to  fur- 
ther the  welfare  of  mankind.  The  new  faith,  thus  taking 
every  mode  of  thought  at  its  best,  not  at  its  worst,  can  do 
justice  even  to  abhorrent  opinions.  It  says  to  the  atheist  : 
You  deny  the  existence  of  God  ;  you  take  Deity  out  of 
the  Heavens,  leaving  none  but  natural  and  human  forces 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  37 

in  the  world  ;  very  well,  then  put  Deity  into  your  hearts. 
You  say  there  is  no  Creator  of  the  Universe ;  but  there 
must  be  creative  power  somewhere  ;  be  yourself  a  creator. 
Do  your  utmost  to  put  the  regenerating  powers  that  are 
within  you  into  the  task  of  making  the  material  and  moral 
world  what  it  should  be.  You  ridicule  the  idea  of  a  Divine 
Providence  ;  but  somebody  must  provide  ;  be  a  providence 
yourself  in  your  own  place  and  after  your  own  fashion — a 
human  providence,  watchful,  careful,  helpful,  kind.  Show 
humanity  that  man  has  the  capacity  in  himself  for  supply- 
ing his  own  necessities  ;  logic  compels  you  to  this  ;  com- 
pels you  to  look  up,  not  down;  to  rank  yourself  with  the 
affirmers,  not  with  the  deniers  ;  with  the  builders,  not  with 
the  destroyers  ;  with  the  worshippers,  not  the  desecrators. 

The  new  faith  approaches  the  materialist  in  the  same 
spirit.  It  says  to  him  :  Be  consistent  with  your  own  cr?ed, 
and  fulfill  its  positive  requirements.  You  say  there  is  no 
spirit  in  man  or  out  of  him  ;  that  matter  is  all  in  all. 
Very  well,  spiritualize  matter  by  exalting  all  its  capabilities. 
You  are  bound  to  develop  all  the  potencies  of  organiza- 
tion ;  it  is  incumbent  upon  you,  as  you  maintain  that 
there  is  no  supernatural,  superhuman  world,  to  unfold  the 
possibilities  of  this  world.  You  are  certain  that  there  is 
no  hereafter  ;  teach  men  to  honor,  love,  glorify  their  exist- 
ence. Teach  them  to  believe  in  this  life  ;  believe  your- 
self that  the  next  life  is  the  nearest  life,  and  the  nearest  life 
is  the  life  of  to-day  ;  show  them  that  you  understand  the 
worth  of  the  hours  ;  make  this  life  eternal,  by  packing  it 
full  of  purposes  and  deeds  that  never  perish. 


38  OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM. 

Men  come  forward  and  boldly  profess  a  yet  darker  creed, 
the  creed  of  the  pessimist.  They  deliberately  avow  their 
conviction  that  the  world  they  live  in  is  the  worst  world 
possible.  They  believe  less  than  the  atheist  does,  who 
simply  denies  the  existence  of  a  supreme  power.  The  pes- 
simist holds  the  controlling  power  to  be  evil.  He  believes 
in  no  tendency  to  righteousness  or  beneficence,  he  looks 
neither  upward  nor  forward,  recognizes  no  power  outside 
of  the  world  or  inside  of  it  that  works  with  a  prevailing 
purpose  toward  order  and  harmony.  The  new  faith  takes 
the  pessimist,  too,  at  his  word.  "  This  is  the  worst  possible 
world,  you  say  ;  if  you  have  the  moral  perception  to  dis- 
cern that,  the  moral  sensibility  to  feel  it  and  complain  of 
it,  the  moral  earnestness  to  denounce  it,  the  duty  of  trying 
to  mend  the  world  is  laid  upon  you.  Is  the  world  full  of 
ugliness,  wickedness,  error,  and  sin  ?  See  if  you  can  find 
nothing  else  in  it ;  set  yourself  diligently  to  pick  out  the 
grains  of  beauty  and  grace,  that  lie  like  gems  amid  the 
ashes  ;  preserve  all  the  saving  qualities  you  can  discover  ; 
add  to  them  your  own  ;  be  yourself  a  hopeful,  brave  man, 
bent  on  disproving  the  fact  that  you  as  well  as  the  rest  of 
the  world  are  good  for  nothing,  a  bit  of  driftwood  or  a 
devil." 

When  faith  shall  stand  upon  a  spirit  as  live,  sweet,  ten- 
der, and  encouraging  as  this,  at  once  all  heretics  will  be 
disarmed.  The  wars  between  the  churches  will  cease  ; 
sectarian  hatred  must  be  at  an  end  ;  religionist  will  no 
longer  clutch  religionist  by  the  throat  and  drag  him  down. 
All  true  seekers,  believers,  hopers,  aspirers,  workers,  will 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  39 

be  confessed  by  one  body,  one  fellowship,  one  family, 
contending  together  zealously  to  bring  in  a  new  order  of 
things.  This  is  the  spirit  of  the  new  faith.  Toleration  it 
looks  upon  as  utterly  unwarranted.  Charity  at  its  best  is 
exceedingly  imperfect.  It  will  accept  nothing  else  than 
cordial  and  full  appreciation  of  every  earnest  endeavor 
that  is  made  by  any  thinker  or  worker  for  humanity. 
That  the  new  spirit  does  not  yet  manifest  itself  as  it  should 
do  among  the  disciples  of  the  new  faith  we  fr.eely  concede, 
"and  more's  the  pity  ;  "  and  this  is  the  reason,  if  reason 
be  required,  why  the  new  faith  has  not  before  this  gathered 
hundreds. 

It  is  to  little  purpose  that  we  have  garnered 
these  thoughts  from  the  outgivings  of  Mr.  Fro- 
Constructive  thingham,  if  it  does  not  now  appear  that 

Spirit  of  the 

New  Faith,  he  has  3.  very  definite  creed  of  his  own  in 
the  liberal  religion,  and  that  he  belongs  to  the  con- 
structive rather  than  to  the  old  destructive  order  of 
spiritual  reformers.  In  calling  upon  those  who  are 
dissatisfied  with  traditional  theology  to  come  out 
openly  in  favor  of  the  new  religion,  and  thus  join 
the  ranks  of  the  searchers  after  truth,  he  is  earnest 
and  plain-spoken.  Clearness  and  faithfulness  in 
conviction  he  deems  especially  important  in  a  pe- 
riod of  transition,  and  he  pays  a  tribute  to  Proctor 


40     OCTAVIUS  BROOKS  FROTHINGHAM, 

for  honesty  in  disavowing  an  inherited  creed  be- 
cause it  was  inconsistent  with  his  scientific  faith. 
He  takes  up  and  demolishes,  one  by  one,  the  pleas 
of  the  temporizer.  You  cannot  place  new  wine  in 
old  bottles,  and  he  that  is  not  with  the  truth  is 
against  it. 

Frothingnam,  as  we  already  have  intimated, 
differs  from  other  radicals  by  his  comprehensive 
A  jud;c;alcast  mental  scope  and  impartial  attitude. 

of  mind. 

He  certainly  has  little  of  the  bigotry  of 
reform,  or  of  the  pride  that  apes  humility.  Often 
his  congregation  is  startled  by  some  ground  taken 
which  is  precisely  the  opposite  of  what  the  more 
radical  expect  from  him.  Thus,  in  speaking  of 
the  Pharisees,  he  perceives  their  spirit  among  both 
the  Philistine  and  Bohemian  classes  of  all  times  ; 
among  conservatives  and  radicals,  rich  and  poor, 
the  formal  and  the  free.  It  is  the  spirit  which 
brings  men  of  any  class  to  set  themselves  apart  as 
being  worthier  than  their  enemies  or  neighbors. 
This  is  the  soul  of  Phariseeism,  the  source  of  ex- 
clusiveness,  assumption,  arrogance,  and,  of  course, 
of  bitterness,  formalism,  hypocrisy.  There  are 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS  FROTHINGHAM.  41 

Pharisees  philosophical,  scientific,  aristocratic,  de- 
mocratic, professional,  orthodox,  heterodox.  The 
attitude  of  actors  toward  the  clergy  is  nearly 
as  pharisaical  as  that  of  the  clergy  toward  the 
dramatic  calling.  The  Bohemian  may  be  a  Phari- 
see as  lofty  in  pretension  as  the  Conventionalist, 
etc.,  etc.  The  strictly  judicial  cast  of  mind  which 
prompts  these  utterances  leads  one  often  to  think 
him  unduly  fond  of  paradox,  until  it  is  seen  that 
what  seems  startling  to  others  is  to  him  the  first 
and  most  truthful  view  of  his  subject.  As  his 
point  becomes  fairly  understood,  you  perceive  that 
he  is  an  intellectual  discoverer,  with  a  method  orig- 
inal and  peculiar.  Yet  with  all  his  reasoning,  it 
has  been  well  said  that  his  "  mind  is  log- 

Style. 

ical  in  its  method  of  thought,  but  not  in 
form  of  expression."  The  latter  is  often  rhetorical, 
and  seems  discursive  from  its  wealth  of  imagery 
and  illustration.  It  should  be  remembered  that 
he  is  speaking  from  the  orator's  platform,  and  that 
the  printing  of  his  discourse,  as  Ben  Jonson  said 
of  written  English,  "  is  but  an  accident."  He  is  a 
poet — one  who  masters  and  is  not  carried  away  by 


42  OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM. 

his  imagination.  The  aesthetic  side  of  his  nature 
Taste  and  Cui-  'ls  cultured  to  a  rare  and  sensitive  degree. 

ture. 

Taste  is  apparent  in  word,  thought,  ac- 
tion ;  yet  he  has  rendered  it  subordinate  to  his  duty 
as  a  teacher,  and  is  not  like  him  who 

. . .  .built  his  soul  a  lordly  pleasure  house 
Wherein  at  ease  for  aye  to  dwell. 

His  predilections  for  art  and  literature  are  mani- 
festly strong,  and  if  he  had  followed  authorship 
exclusively,  he  would  be  most  distinguished  in  that 
calling.  His  scholarship  excels  that  of  many 
learned  doctors.  If  not  elaborate  in  special  fields, 
it  is  broad,  rich,  universal,  covering  with  ardent 
and  impartial  view  the  literature  of  all  peoples  and 
times. 

Owing  to  the   popular  knowledge  of  Mr.   Fro- 
thingham's  liberality  toward  all  who  desire  to  wor- 

Personal  quail-      shIP      after     the     Dictates     of      their     OWtt 

natures,  all  sorts  of  new-fangled  reform- 
ers and  doctrinaires  appeal  to  him  and  to  his  society 
for  recognition  or  aid.  If  he  has  a  weakness  it  is  an 
excessive  good  nature,  which  makes  him  averse  to 
utterly  repelling  even  the.  most  indiscreet.  His 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  43 

charity  in  this  respect  often  has  led  to  a  mis- 
conception of  his  own  views  on  the  part  of  the 
orthodox  world,  who  father  upon  him  many  a 
movement  of  which  he  may  respect  the  aspiration, 
and  be  heartily  amused  at  the  poverty  or  foolish- 
ness of  the  creed.  In  reality  the  critical  bent  of 
his  mind  has  been  so  increased  by  training  that, 
as  becomes  an  investigator,  he  subjects  every  fact 
and  doctrine  to  the  most  relentless  scrutiny.  A 
disdain  of  empty  sentiment  never  leaves  him ; 
there  is  no  obtaining  emotions  under  false  pre- 
tenses at  Masonic  Hall.  Conscience  and  sincerity 
make  him  strong  and  clear.  One  who  listens  to 
him  for  the  first  time  might  accuse  him  of  lacking 
that  indefinable  quality  termed  magnetism.  But 
he  is  in  truth  both  magnetic  and  humane,  full  of 
practical  charities,  and  exquisitely  sensitive  to  the 
friendship  of.  those  whom  he  respects  and  loves. 
In  private  life  he  is  delightful,  and,  by  his  sweet- 
ness, humor,  conversational  tact,  and  power,  the 
inciter  of  general  delight.  To  see  him  in  his 
home  is  a  privilege  indeed.  Here,  and  among  the 
groups  of  his  select  acquaintance,  he  is  the  flower 


44  OCTAVIUS   BROOKS  FROTHINGHAM. 

*,  of  courtesy  and  companionship — a  gentleman  of 
the  most  refined  and  genuine  school. 

A  word  in  relation   to  his   published   writings. 
"  The   Religion  of  Humanity,"  mentioned   here- 
tofore, is  a  series  of  essays  upon  Mod- 

Publications. 

ern  Tendencies,  God,  the  Bible,  the 
Power  of  Moral  Inspiration,  Providence,  Immor- 
tality, Conscience,  the  Soul  of  Truth  in  Error,  and 
that  of  Good  in  Evil.  Another  of  his  volumes 
is  "  Beliefs  of  the  Unbelievers,  and  other  Dis- 
courses." His  "  Life  of  Theodore  Parker  "  is  an  in- 
spiriting and  well-proportioned  biography.  It  has 
been  aptly  succeeded  by  the  "  History  of  Transcen- 
dentalism in  New  England,"  a  book  which  those 
interested  in  that  remarkable  phase  and  movement 
long  ago  called  upon  him  to  write  ;  and  no  other 
man,  Dr.  Ripley  possibly  excepted,  is  so  fitted  for 
the  task,  or  could  have  accomplished  it  so  readily 
and  well.  It  is,  in  its  way,  a  handbook  of  philo- 
sophic inquiry,  from  the  time  of  Kant,  and,  as  a 
record  of  New  England  transcendentalism  and  of 
the  lives  of  the  poetic,  original  beings  who  were  the 
leaders  of  that  movement,  is,  and  will  remain,  an 


OCTAVIUS  BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  45 

indispensable  authority.  Mr.  Frothingham  always 
has  taken  special  interest  in  the  ways,  thoughts, 
and  culture  of  the  young.  Years  ago  he  made  an 
attractive  paraphrase  of  some  familiar  Scripture 
legends,  in  two  volumes,  "  Stories  from  the  Lips  of 
the  Teacher "  and  "  Stories  of  the  Patriarchs." 
His  "  Child's  Book  of  Religion,"  for  Sunday  schools 
and  homes,  is  a  unique  and  attractive  compilation, 
prose  and  verse,  for  the  enjoyment  and  religious 
training  of  children.  He  has  been  a  frequent 
contributor  to  our  leading  magazines  and  reviews. 
A  feature  of  his  church  is  the  gratuitous  distri- 
bution of  his  more  impressive  discourses,  steno- 
graphically  reported  from  week  to  week.  These, 
and  all  of  his  printed  works,  are  issued  and  for  sale 
by  the  Putnams,  and  form  a  library  of  original 
and  eloquent  religious  teaching. 

V. 

Mr.  Frothingham  was  born  in  Boston,  and  is  now 
at  his  prime,  something  more  than  fifty 

Biographical. 

years  of  age,  although  his  face  and  figure 
are  those  of  a  younger  man.     He  belonged  to  the 


46  OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM. 

Harvard  class  of  1843,  went  through  the  course  of 
study  at  the  Divinity  School,  and  became,  like  his 
distinguished  father,  a  Unitarian  clergyman.  For 
some  years  he  was  the  pastor  of  a  church  in  old 
Salem,  but  finally,  after  a  period  of  study,  contro- 
versy, and  foreign  travel,  grew  too  radical  and 
progressive  to  be  bound  by  the  ties  of  any  ex- 
isting organization.  In  1855  ne  began  to  preach 
upon  an  independent  basis  to  a  small  congrega- 
tion in  Jersey  City.  In  1859  ne  removed  to  New 
York,  organized  a  society,  and  for  some  years 
preached  in  a  church  near  Sixth  Avenue,  on  For- 
tieth Street.  After  a  time  it  was  thought  advisable 
to  sell  that  building,  and  the  society  removed  to 
Lyric  Hall,  which  became  famous  through  the  repu- 
tation of  its  preacher.  A  peculiar  congregation, 
though  until  recently  a  small  one,  gathered  around 
him ;  a  fit  audience,  though  few,  making  up  in 
character  and  influence  whatever  it  lacked  in  num- 
bers and  worldly  wealth. 

Some  of  our  choicest  and  best-known 

Mr.  irothing- 
ham's  "  Soci- 
ety." writers,  thinkers,  and  philanthropists, 

have  belonged  to  this  society.     It  has  also  been 


OCTAVIUS  BROOKS  FROTHINGHAM.     47 

remarked  that  many  thoughtful  people,  long 
unaccustomed  to  church-going,  have  resorted  to 
Mr.  Frothingham's  church  as  to  a  place  where 
absolute  freedom  of  conscience  is  proffered  to 
the  worshipper.  No  doubt  it  is  looked  upon 
as  a  cave  of  Adullam  by  the  orthodox ;  cer- 
tainly it  is  the  haunt  of  eager,  restless,  unsatisfied 
spirits,  attracted  by  the  originality  and  boldness 
of  the  preacher's  views.  Members  of  the  literary, 
artistic,  and  dramatic  guilds  favor  it,  and  here 
you  find  a  select  group  from  the  scholarly  and 
learned  professions.  Many  Israelites,  of  the  pro- 
gressive school,  are  scattered  among  the  audience. 
In  the  fall  of  1875  the  society  removed  from 
Lyric  Hall  to  its  more  convenient  and  beautiful 
quarters  in  the  Masonic  Temple.  An  immediate 
and  great  enlargement  of  the  congregation  was 
the  result.  It  has  nearly  doubled  its  numbers 
and  resources,  and  the  hall,  during  the  winter  of 
1875-76,  was  crowded  with  audiences  listening  to 
a  brilliant  and  notable  series  of  discourses.  Marked 
attention  was  given  to  this  series  by  that  portion 
of  the  press  which  is  on  the  alert  for  what  is 


48      OCTAVIUS  BROOKS  FROTHINGHAM. 

most  significant  among   the  men  and   matters   of 
our  time. 

The  spirit  of  the  society  is  declared  by  the 
"  rules  "  of  the  "  Independent  Liberal  Church  " 
The  indepen-  to  be  not  in  any  sense  ecclesiastical 

dent     Liberal 

or  dogmatical,  but  purely  social.  No 
distinction  is  allowed  between  members  of  the 
"  church  "  and  members  of  the  "congregation." 
The  society  is  "  cordial,  open,  humane  ;  its  wel- 
come is  warm,  its  sympathies  are  wide,  and  it  relies 
on  these  qualities  for  its  influence  and  success." 
But  one  regular  service  with  preaching  is  held  dur- 
ing the  week,  that  of  Sunday  morning,  the  after- 
noon of  Sunday  being  devoted  to  pastoral  lectures 
and  instruction.  Social  reunions,  occur  on  secular 
evenings,  at  intervals,  and  are  of  a  pleasant  and 
entertaining  nature.  A  peculiar  feeling  of  brother- 
hood exists  among  the  frequenters  of  the  church. 
No  sacraments  are  observed  or  rites  adminis- 
tered. The  ceremony  of  christening,  or  the  dedi- 
cation of  childhood,  as  a  social  rite  of  poetic  signifi- 
cance, is  performed  by  the  pastor  when  requested. 
The  association  was  originally  incorporated  in 


OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM.  49 

1860,  under  the  title  "  Third  Congregational  Uni- 
tarian Church."  This  title  has  been  changed, 
and  for  some  years  past  the  church  has  openly 
maintained  an  unsectarian  position.  This  is  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  principle  announced  in  its  con- 
stitution, which  declares  that  it  is  "  established  for 
the  support  of  public  worship,  the  maintenance  of 
a  religious  faith,  liberal,  intelligent,  and  progres- 
sive, the  cultivation  of  religious  life,  individual  and 
social,  insisting  always  on  freedom  of  individual 
opinion  in  all  matters  of  religious  belief,  and  claim- 
ing to  be  responsible  only  to  God  and  the  private 
conscience."  A  section  of  the  by-laws  declares, 
"  It  is  expressly  understood  that  no  subscription  or 
assent  to  any  covenant  or  formula  of  faith  shall  be 
required  of  any  member." 

The  national  "  Free  Religious  Association  "  is 
an  organization  which  counts  upon  the  list  of  its 
The  Free  Reiig-  directors  such  names  as  Emerson,  You- 

ious  Associa- 

tion-  mans,   Curtis,   Higginson,   Weiss,  Sar- 

gent, Lucretia  Mott,  Lydia  Maria  Child.  Fro- 
thingham's  position  as  the  most  active  and  eminent 
leader,  since  the  death  of  Parker,  of  the  liberal 


50  OCTAVIUS   BROOKS   FROTHINGHAM, 

movement  in  America,  is  confirmed  by  the 
action  of  this  body.  At  the  time  of  its  forma- 
tion he  was  unanimously  elected  to  the  presiden- 
cy, an  office  which  he  still  retains.  His  own 
church,  as  we  have  seen,  has  reached  a  vigor- 
ous maturity.  Leaving  out  of  question  the  vitality 
claimed  for  such  an  institution  as  we  have  de- 
scribed, it  is  exposed  to  perilous  contingencies,  be- 
ing held  together  and  nurtured  by  the  force  of  a 
master  who  as  yet  has  but  few  professional  asso- 
ciates, and  to  whose  place  no  one  at  this  moment 
could  fitly  succeed. 


Our  sketch,  however  inadequate,  of  a  remark- 
able teacher,  his  system,  and  the  church  under  his 
guidance,  must  now  be  ended.  But  even  this  much 
will  serve  to  show  that  many  notions  current  with 
respect  to  Octavius  Brooks  Frothingham  are  ut- 
terly superficial ;  that  his  reverential  and  judicial 
qualities  are  on  a  level  with  his  acknowledged  intel- 
lectual genius,  and  that  he  exerts  in  this  commu- 
nity, and  throughout  the  world  of  religious  aspira- 
tion, a  constant,  earnest,  and  most  potential  force. 


BOOKS    BY    OCTAVIUS    B.     FROTHINGHAM. 


THE    RELIGION    OF    HUMANITY.      AN   ESSAY. 
Third  Edition — Revised.     Price,  $1.50. 

"  Nobody  can  peruse  this  book  without  respect  for  the  learning,  mental  honesty  and 
skill  in  the  statement  of  his  convictions,  possessed  by  the  author,  and  for  the  essential 
integrity  and  philanthropic  tendency  of  his  spirit." — Springfield  Republican. 

"  A  profoundly  sincere  book,  the  work  of  one  who  has  read  largely,  studied  thor- 
oughly, reflected  patiently.  *  *  *  It  is  a  model  of  scholarly  culture  and  of  finished 
and  vigorous  style." — Boston  Globe. 

"A  marked  book,  forming  a  most  important  contribution  to  our  religious  literature." 
— Boston  Register. 

THE    CHILD'S    BOOK  OF    RELIGION. 

For  Sunday- Schools  and  Homes.     Price,   $1.00. 

THE     SAFEST     CREED,     AND    OTHER    DISCOURSES. 
I2mo,  Cloth,  $1.50. 

We  commend  these  discourses,  not  "as  food  for  babes,"  but  as  full  of  suggestion 
for  earnest  and-  thoughtful  men. 

STORIES  FROM  THE  LIPS  OF  THE  TEACHER. 
With  Frontispiece.     Cloth,   $1.00. 

"The  Parables  are  so  re-told  as  to  absorb  the  attention  of  the  reader,  and  to  fasten 
upon  the  mind  what  the  writer  believes  to  have  been  the  impression  the  Saviour  meant  to 
convey.  It  is  in  style  and  thought  a  superior  book,  and  will  interest  alike  young  and  old." 
— Zion's  Herald  (Methodist.) 

STORIES    OF   THE    PATRIARCHS. 

With   Frontispiece.       Cloth,  $1.00. 

"  A  work  of  culture  and  taste  ;  it  will  be  welcome  to  all  ages,  and  gives  the  sublimes! 
lessons  of  manhood  in  the  simple  language  of  a  child.'' — Springfield  Republican, 

BELIEFS  OF  THE   UNBELIEVERS.     A   LECTURE. 
I2mo,  Paper,  25  cents. 

TRANSCENDENTALISM  IN  NEW  ENGLAND.  A  HISTORY. 
With  sketches  and  studies  of  Emerson,  Alcott,  Parker,  Margaret 
Fuller,  the  Brook- Farm  Community,  etc. 

8vo,  Cloth  extra,  with  steel  portrait  of  the  author,  $2.50. 

THE    LIFE    OF    THEODORE    PARKER. 
8vo.     With  Portrait,  $3.00. 


SERMONS 


O.    B.    FROTHINGHAM. 


SECOND      SERIES 


i. 

2. 

3- 
4- 

5- 
6. 

7- 
8. 

9- 
10. 
ii. 

12. 

T3. 
14. 
IS- 
1  6. 


19. 
20. 

21. 

22. 

23- 
24. 


THE  GREAT  HOPE 

REASONABLE  RELIGION 

THE  DESPOTISM  OF  FAITH 

THE  CARDINAL'S  BERRETTA 

PHARISEES 

PAYING  DEBTS  ^ 

INTERESTS:  MATERIAL  AND  SPIRITUAL 

ALLEGIANCE  TO  FAITH 

THE  LIVING  GOD 

THE  THEIST'S  FAITH 

THOUGHTS  ABOUT  GOD 

CLOGS  AND  OPPORTUNITIES 

NEW  WINE  IN  OLD  BOTTLES 

KNOWLEDGE  AND  FAITH 

INFIDELITY 

RELIGION  AND  CHILDHOOD 

THE  SERMON  ON  THE  MOUNT 

MATERIALISM 

IRREVERENCE 

RIGHTS  AND  DUTIES 

AUTHORITY  IN  RELIGION     - 

MORAL  NARCOIICS    • 

THE  NATURAL  MAN 

THE  GLORIFIED  MAN 


DELIVERED, 

April    4,  1875. 

April  n,   1875. 

April  1 8,   1875. 

May    2,  1875. 

May    g,  1875. 

March  28,  1875. 

Sept.  19,  1875. 

Oct.  3,  1875. 

Oct.  17,  1875. 

-      Oct.  24,  1875. 

Oct.  31,  1875. 

-  Dec.  5,  1875. 
Dec.  12,  1875. 

-  Dec.  19,  1875. 

Jan.  9,  1876. 

-  Jan.  16,  1876. 
Jan.  23,  1876. 

-'  Jan.  30,  1876. 
Feb.  6,  1876. 

-  Feb.  27,  1876. 

-  March  5,  1876. 

April  2,  1876. 

-  April  30,  1876. 
April  1 6,  1876. 


The  above  Sermons,  and  those  remaining  of  the  First  Series,  are 
for  sale  by  the  Publishers,  or  are  sent  by  mail,  paid,  at  the  price  of  10 
cents  each  ;  and  subscriptions  are  received  for  the  Series  for  the  year 
(planned  to  consist  of  20  Sermons),  at  $2  each. 

It  ha?  been  decided  to  put  upon  the  Sermons  for  the  present  merely 
such  nominal  price  as  is  expected  to  meet  the  cost  of  their  publication. 


4  8  °  3 


YC134SS5 


